Abstract
HIV-1 infection elevates the risk of developing various cancers, including T-cell lymphoma. Whether HIV-1-encoded proteins directly contribute to oncogenesis remains unknown. We observed that approximately 1-5% of CD4(+) T cells from the blood of people living with HIV-1 exhibit over-duplicated centrioles, suggesting that centrosome amplification underlies the development of HIV-1-associated cancers by driving aneuploidy. Through affinity purification, biochemical, and cell biology analyses, we discovered that Vpr, an accessory protein of HIV-1, hijacks the centriole duplication machinery and induces centrosome amplification and aneuploidy. Mechanistically, Vpr formed a cooperative ternary complex with an E3 ligase subunit, VprBP, and polo-like kinase 4 (Plk4). Unexpectedly, however, the complex enhanced Plk4's functionality by promoting its relocalization to the procentriole assembly and induced centrosome amplification. Loss of either Vpr's C-terminal 17 residues or VprBP acidic region, the two elements required for binding to Plk4 cryptic polo-box, abrogated Vpr's capacity to induce all these events. Furthermore, HIV-1 WT, but not its Vpr mutant, induced multiple centrosomes and aneuploidy in primary CD4(+) T cells. We propose that the Vpr•VprBP•Plk4 complex serves as a molecular link that connects HIV-1 infection to oncogenesis and that inhibiting the Vpr C-terminal motif may reduce the occurrence of HIV-1-associated cancers.